News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-03-10
COASTING AT ALBANY.
A (:Iimpse mt tie x >markable Fun of the
Albany Small Boys on a Crooked steep
Bill.

This winter has seen many aorts of
exciting sport, but hardly anything to
equal the fun now mpant on Howard
street hill, says an Albany correspond
ent. The darting voyages of the Hud-
son ard Shrewsbury ice boats, the snow
shoe races, and flight of the swift
toboggans in many cities, the excitement
of the Indian boys with their 'snow
snakes" in Syracuse, and of the college
bows at foot ball all these are tame ex-
ercises beside the fun on Howard street
hill. Howard street hal Is in Albany,
and the fun the boys haye 1spOn it is
coasting. But such cQasting 49, until
you get an idea of it.
Albany has many hillside G~eets and
half dozen that are best suited to the
sport of coasting are set apart every
winter for the men and women and boys
and girls who like to rush down them on
the great bob sleds that, in Albany, Of
ten weigh ton or two and cost hun
dreds of dollars each. But Howard
street is always deserted by these pleas
ure seekers, because it is too steep and
crooked. 1t would be almost as much
as ones life is worth to coast on this hill
with bob sled. 1t stands like an old
fashioned roof and bends like a rams
horn. Therefore, it is left to the little
boys with ordinary sleds or those solid
wooden vehicles they call "5unkers.' ,
In ordinary soft snow the sport with
these light sleds is not too risky.
The other day Howard street hill was
lined on either side with men and women
roaring with laughter. Strangers who
added to the throng and looked on
sometimes joined in the merriment, but
at other times held their breath at what
they saw. The boys had poured water
down the middle of the street and it
had frozen into a narrow roadway of
silvery ice Along this slippery slanting
path there shot ightning-like process
sion of coasting machines of sorts the
most remarkable that were ever seen
together. First there would come half
dozen fragile painted sieds, followed
by an errand boy in a soap box nailed to
sled, with brown paper huttering out
from under him to show that he was
supposed to be delivering parcel some
where. Next came eight little urchins
on piece of rough plank, flying as if
they were falling from the clouds.
Swiftly pursuing the plank came boy
on the lid of trunk, girl on square
block of ice, a boy on the side of such a
box as oranges come in, with another
boy astride of his back, all darting down
at sixty miles an hour. Close upon these
came a young lady and boy on to-
boggan, more painted sleds, another
errand boy in a soap box, aud strangest
sled of all door-mat that had been wet
and frozen stiff, bearing g ragged girl,
revolving around and around after the
manner of a pinwheel, and yet darting
down hill like flash. But there were
maly other strange sightsto come. One
was that of boy fitting by with moth
ing beneath him, while close to his back
came the square block of wood that had
slipped from under him. Another BOY
slid along inside adss~t old basket,
and ore W MT by Iw$tiaw. on a
little niece of wood-sss4 which he had
screwed a pair of skatese.s serve as sled
runners. 1t was not SO much cOasting
as a coasting burlesque, so utterly ridic-
ulous were most of the methods employed
to get down the hill The truth was
that as each boy happened along and
caught sight of the glittering path of
ice he threw himself upon it if he had q
sled, or, if he had none, he got the first
thing that came to hand to sit upon.
Night after night this crazy coasting
goes on, and thus far there is no news of
any one having been seriously hurt.